Holiday Junction, a beloved Cincinnati holiday tradition, pulls in to the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal on Friday, November 12, 2021. This year marks 75 years since the Duke Energy Holiday Trains made their first appearance in the Cincinnati Gas & Electric (CG&E) lobby, much to the delight of generations of Greater Cincinnatians through the years.
The historic O-scale B&O layout’s history in Cincinnati goes back to 1946 when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad shipped it (by rail of course) to town on loan to CG&E to be displayed in their downtown Cincinnati lobby during the holiday season. And so began one of our much loved holiday traditions, filling generations of Greater Cincinnatians with so many memories through the years. The layout has around 1,000 ft. of track, 60 locomotives, and 300 railroad cars which travel approximately 100,000 scale miles in a normal pre-pandemic season.
Don’t forget to check out the no-touch interactive storybook filled with photos and the history of the Duke Energy Holiday Trains!
There is more to Holiday Junction than the Duke Energy Holiday Trains. You’ll find multiple operating model railroads and railroad artifacts throughout the exhibit. Watch one of the earliest electric toy trains, the c. 1904 Carlisle & Finch train, travel around its track. There’s also the winter-themed garden railway layout created by our friends at the Greater Cincinnati Garden Railway Society, Thomas the Train G-scale layout, a 1960s era Lionel Super O layout, and the Lionel pre-war layout for (my favorite to operate). Let’s not forget about the impressive Brickopolis exhibit created by the talented folks at OKILug, filled with operating trains and other scenes made with LEGO bricks in a separate gallery.
Again this year, the children’s train ride will not be operating. In its place is a scavenger hunt for themed items hidden throughout the garden railway layout. Another advantage of the children’s train ride not operating is that adults can now view the entire garden railway layout which just wasn’t possible with the ride operating around the layout. So don’t forget to take advantage of the view!
Santa will be coming back to the Public Landing beginning on Nov. 26th, where he’ll be looking out his window to chat and take photos with guests from a safe distance.
Holiday Junction runs November 12, 2021 through January 3, 2022 & is open 10:00am-4:00pm Thursday through Monday & some special holiday hours. Admission is free for CMC Members. Non-member admission is $10 each for adults & children over 2 or $5 each if added to regular museum admission. Visit cincymuseum.org/holiday-junction for more details and special holiday hours.
